If you check out the MM thread, I posted a comparison video of Odolwa. Odolwa was actually a pretty challenging first boss in MM64: fire butterflies, well-timed attacks, hurricane spin, good aim, good defence, rockfalls and other pesky bugs. When the ring of fire comes, you better hope it's around that Deku flower lest you be smacked hard by his giant sword.
In the remake, he just stands there. There's a really disgusting eye on his head, and when he misses you with his sword (he has awful aim), he bends over to display a grotesque thong which you smack a few times to knock him down to his stomach. You then bash his eye out. OR, an even easier way to do it is to use one of the now several Deku flowers, drop a Deku nut on him from above and then smash his eye out in human form. He honestly just stands there the entire battle.
They got rid of the fire, the butterflies, the hurricane spin and obliterated his aiming accuracy when he comes at you with his sword. Now he just runs around aimlessly.
Other tweaks:
- Bomber kids' locations changed. This wasn't a + or - for me
-- However, the Bomber kids now approach you constantly with "rumors" that basically tell you what to do to complete the notebook. This makes it less challenging. Still not a + or - for me, but coupled with other things, it became a -
- Deku Shrub magic bubble attack has precision aiming built-in that basically makes it so you can't miss. There was nothing wrong with the original; not sure why they changed this. Again, coupled in with the overall picture, this became a -
- Save points everywhere, even in dungeons. It's ridiculous. Timing your adventure well is part of the challenge. I can see why this might be a good thing, but I thought the restricted save was charming for MM given the time-rush system. A - from me
- Similar to the Deku Shrub, they changed the Goron mechanics: you no longer hold "B" to charge up to a spike attack. Spikes just automatically appear instead. This will make the Snowpeak boss extremely easy given that it requires a mastering of the charge-spike to complete.
- They've changed some Faerie locations. The most notable so far is that the faerie in the bubble that you needed to hit with an arrow under the water after completing Woodfall has now been moved to the corner of a random room, in the open, where you just run up and smack the bubble to release it. Why was this changed? No reason but to simplify. Definitely confusing for veterans
- Things you're looking for have become more obvious. That Ancient Goron you needed to find in a snowball and defrost? He's out in the open now stuck in an icecube closer to the entrance (since the hot water goes cold in two minutes, I guess they moved it to make it, again, "easier"). There was nothing wrong with the way it was before, though, so for me this was an unnecessary change
- Banker location has changed to a more obvious spot. I'm neutral about this.
Someone also told me that the mechanics for the Zora have changed to make swimming easier, but there was honestly nothing wrong with the original mechanics, so I don't know. I haven't gotten there yet.
Dungeons are more or less the same, that's good... So far at least. I expect them to change the Gerudo Fortress and the golden seahorse quest later on to make it "easier" too. Damnit.
Good things:
- Great graphics
- Item screens are nice. You can change mask locations and the layout is simple yet effective
- Story doesn't appear to have been altered (so far)
The over-simplification might be great for newer individuals playing MM, but MM has always been a mature game for a mature audience, even with its E rating. The themes are mature, the ambiance is dark and the difficulty of the game reflected that. I was 11 or 12 when I beat MM so it wasn't even that difficult. Now it's a joke :pink_no:
I'll still play it, but a "classic" mode would have been more than welcome!